


The Prince and His Princess

by raendown



Series: NaNoWriMo 2020 Drabbles [94]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-07 23:50:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21466567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raendown/pseuds/raendown
Summary: He will always come to her rescue, though he might complain the whole time.
Relationships: Nara Shikamaru/Yamanaka Ino
Series: NaNoWriMo 2020 Drabbles [94]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1533161
Comments: 4
Kudos: 68





	The Prince and His Princess

“So did you have fun?” he asked, already knowing the answer. Ino glared back over her shoulder from where she was hunched against the side of some poor merchant’s food cart but that was no surprise. Her eyes had no heat to them anyway, not nearly as much as they would have had if he hadn’t just watched her vomit up all the drinks she had consumed that night.

“Go to hell,” she told him in a scratchy voice.

“Alright, time to get you to a bed I think. Troublesome woman. Always making me come to your rescue.”

Blaming her was easier than admitting that he had specifically stayed up waiting for the inevitable call that Ino couldn’t make it home on her own and needed his help. Even if he was sure she already knew that – why else would she always call him specifically – there was no reason he had to expose himself by admitting it so easily. A man had a right to pretend he had some secrets. Shikamaru wondered if his favorite Yamanaka had sussed them out already or if she really was as oblivious to the truth as she seemed to be sometimes.

“I hate throwing up,” Ino croaked.

“No doubt. I don’t think anyone enjoys it.”

“Carry me,” she demanded, finally straightening enough to hold out both arms.

“Oh come on,” Shikamaru grumbled. He was already moving to pick her up despite his words of protest, rolling his eyes more to save face than anything else.

Holding Ino in his arms was always a special sort of torture but she was one of his best friends and he would never want to put his suffering on to her so Shikamaru assumed his bravest expression as she wound her own arms around his neck, settling her head down on his shoulder like she belonged there. Someday he would have to ask why she was so fond of going out partying at the clubs if this was how the night always ended.

Actually, he might as well ask now. There was no time like the present and considering how drunk she was there was very little chance she would remember this conversation later in case the answer was embarrassing. Really a win-win situation for all.

“I just don’t get it,” he said, setting off in the direction of the Yamanaka compound. “What do you like so much about these clubs? At the end of the night you never seem to be having fun.”

“But you always rescue me,” she murmured.

“Exactly, I always have to rescue you. So why do you keep insisting that it’s so fun?”

Ino squirmed and moaned in to his shoulder. “No, you don’t _get it_. That is the fun! You come and rescue me, my big strong Shika. I’m your princess! That’s…that’s the whole fun.” She lifted her head to meet his eyes and he had to stop walking lest the depth of that unexpected gaze bowl him over entirely. “I like pretending for a night that I mean as much to you as you do to me.”

With that she dropped her head against his shoulder again and began to whine about how her stomach hurt from all the heaving, entirely shredding the mood that her little confession had started to build. Shikamaru took a deep breath and forced his feet to start walking again. This was information that he would need some time to let soak in, to really turn it over so he could examine it from every angle and decide how he wanted to precede. He was no stranger to Ino’s overly familiar way of speaking so there was no guarantee that she’d meant what he hoped she meant.

He would need to speak to her when she was sober. Shikamaru scrunched up his nose just thinking about it but he knew that was the only way to get a true answer. Did she feel the same yearning for him as he did for her? Only sober Ino would be able to tell him straight out without going off on tangents or slurring her words together.

“’M sleepy,” she whispered just under his ear.

“Alright. Let’s get you home then.”

“Thank you. Always my sweet prince.”

“I’ll always be whatever you need me to be,” he promised in a whisper of his own.

She might not know it just yet how much he meant that but hopefully within the next couple of days he would find the chance to finally say it to her face instead of keeping the words locked up in his heart. Only if she said them first, though. After all the troublesome pining she’d put him through Shikamaru thought he deserved to make her work for it just a little more.


End file.
